Jones bags a treble during Concacaf Gold Cup qualifying win

Izzy Jones became the first Luton player to score a hat-trick for his country in a full international when he scored a treble during Guyana’s 3-2 Concacaf Gold Cup qualifying round first leg victory over Guatemala on Friday night.

The 25-year-old, who signed for the Hatters in January, was winning his seventh cap for his country as they hosted their opponents ranked 10 places above them in the Concacaf rankings. It was Jones who opened the scoring on eight minutes at the Barbados Technical Centre though when he was played through by Nathan Moriah-Welsh, and after the flag stayed down, cleverly rounded goalkeeper Fredy Perez to find the net.

Guatemala levelled through Jose Martinez’s touch from a dangerous ball into the box, but the Golden Jaguars were back in front 10 minutes before the break, a goalmouth scramble ending with Jones finding the net again with his second goal. He then had a first senior treble when arriving perfectly at the back post to slam Liam Gordon's cross into the roof of the net and make it 3-1 to the hosts.

José Carlos Pinto pulled one back from the penalty spot in the closing stages but Guyana held on to take the lead into the second leg of the qualifier which will be played at the Estadio Cementos Progreso in Guatemala City on Wednesday evening as they aim to reach a tournament they have only played in once, that back in 2019.